A “mob” fight involving about 50 students leaving Asbury Park High School last week that caused damage to nearby property has prompted police to increase patrols at dismissal time, officials said.

Police have seen an increase in complaints from neighbors about unruly high-school aged children jaywalking, obstructing traffic and being disorderly, Asbury Police Public Information Officer Michael Casey said.

The fight broke out at about 2:30 p.m. March 17 in an alley off Comstock Street between 4th and 5th avenues — less than two blocks from the school, Casey said.

The fight — and other reported after school behavior — raises questions from parents and neighbors about the safety of children, property damage and why these students are acting out.

"When you're dealing with a population that has been through so much trauma — and the school is so close to a neighborhood — it does affect how they experience everyday life," said Rodney Salomon, founder of the nonprofit Konscious Youth Development & Service (KYDS) and a youth development specialist at Asbury Park High School.

Police, witnesses and families of the victims said there were at least 50 teens involved, many of whom were either participating or recording video with their phones.

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Brian Watkins, who lives near Asbury Park High School, took this video of students in a water fight with water bottles, water guns and water balloons after school in Jun 2014.

“It was a mob of people with hands whaling everywhere,” said Barbara Cintron, whose daughter, Ajaysiya Byers, 16, was attacked by the group while walking home from school with her friend, Jade Parker, 15. “My daughter was feet from the school. Nobody was seriously hurt, but it could have turned at any moment.”

Both girls had minor bruises and scrapes. Parker went to the hospital to have her head contusions checked out, said Shawn Brown, Parker's father.

Parker's parents live in East Orange, but she lives with her grandmother and cousin in Asbury Park.

"It's sad because there were boys doing it too, kicking and stomping," Brown said. "(My daughter) is not the best (behaved) kid all the time, but when you're watching your kid get stomped and come home with lumps on her head, it's terrible."

Salomon said a lot of these children see a lot of violence at home, and many are physically, sexually or emotionally abused.

"These things have lasting effects on the psyche of a child," he said. "That's why you see young people living life like they don't care."

During the street fight, neighbors called the police, but the fight ended and the teenagers were dispersing by the time they arrived, Casey said.

One vehicle parked on the street sustained about $1,000 in damages, according to a police report.

The individual reported that at least one teenager was standing on the roof of the car and three were jumping up and down on the hood, Casey said. The windshield was cracked, and the hood and roof were dented and scratched.

One resident reported to police that tires of three vehicles belonging to him and people visiting his home were slashed hours after the fight last Thursday. The resident, who lives near the high school, said unruly teens in his and neighbor's yards, in the streets and on people's lawns have been problems he's dealt with for years. He didn't want to be identified for fear of retribution from vandals.

Police often get called, but the kids are usually already down the street and gone by the time they come, he said.

"I bought a home near a school, I get that," he said. "But there's a difference (between students walking home) and being afraid of coming out into your yard when there are 100 kids fighting in it."

Brian Watkins, who lives at the corner of Comstock Street and 5th Avenue, works from home three to four days a week and said he sees large groups of kids walking down the middle of the street every day — on the avenues and cross streets blocking traffic.

"They go on other people's properties and don't have any sense of boundaries or limitations," he said.

Prior to installing a fence in his yard, students would cut through all the time after school. He said some of his neighbors who have asked teens to leave their property have gotten rocks thrown at windows or tires slashed. He said he takes the "cool uncle" approach when he talks to them, which usually works.

Students also hang around at an abandoned house across the street from him, he said. Sometime he watches them take pieces of the fence and throw them at each other.

Most of the time, teens will listen to cops when asked to get out of the street, but once the officers are out of sight, they're right back at it, Watkins said. But with some students — if not approached the right way — the situation will escalate quickly and the kids will yell at officers, he said.

"This isn't a new problem," said Watkins, who moved into the neighborhood in 2007.

Watkins recalls one day in 2014 when a water fight broke out after school. Students had stashed 2-liter soda bottles filled with water, water balloons, water guns and water bottles in various yards all over the neighborhood. Although not necessarily aimed at vehicles, cars did get hit with full soda bottles, he said.

"Why is this stuff happening? That's the million dollar question," Watkins said. "What's giving these kids so much angst?"

Teen behavior

"I know these kids and I know what kind of energy they have," Salomon said. "I've seen neighbors come out and speak respectfully, and the kids move on."

Salomon said he's also seen neighbors come out angry and automatically assume the kids are the worst. When dealing with children who have low trigger points, their behavior can escalate quickly.

"I don't expect everyone to be nice all the time," he said. "But we have nurturing to do as a community. We can't look at them as something separate."

“"I don't expect everyone to be nice all the time. But we have nurturing to do as a community. We can't look at them as something separate."”

Rodney Salomon, KYDS founder and youth coordinator at Asbury Park High School

Violence inside the high school has been reduced over the past few years, but the school has difficulty controlling what happens off school grounds, he said.

"Kids are getting smarter because the rules have gotten tighter in the building," he said. "To me, it shows a cry for help in a way. When people have to express themselves with violence, it shows what's going on internally."

During an act of retribution the day after the street fight, the two victims got suspended for attacking some of the girls who had "jumped" them the day before, Cintron said. Byers, Parker and their parents were at a meeting with school officials about the incident. After the meeting was over, the two ran off down the hall to find the girls.

Cintron said she's pressing charges against seven girls involved in the street fight, but Asbury Police haven't confirmed the arrests. Videos of those involved in the fight had been posted — and since taken down — on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Based on recorded footage of the fight, the incident looked like a "bar brawl" among kids, Cintron said.

“The era is just so different now. It wasn’t like this when we went to school. If you fought, you fought one on one," said Jennifer Parker, Jade's mother. "And they think it’s so funny watching it online. Watching (people) get hurt. What if they kicked one of the girls in the temple or hit their nose the wrong way and something happened? I would lose my daughter and they would go to jail for murder. They don’t look at it that far.”

Salomon also said the "gang mentality" is a reflection on society and the generation. It's become trendy to record violence or have the first video of what's going on.

"These kids, at their core, know what's right and wrong," Salomon said. "These kids are a reflection of how they've been guided. I'm not saying what they're doing is right, but we need to look at the people who are mentoring these kids and teaching them how to deal with conflict."